heavy rain, gusty winds and possible severe weather. we've already had severe problems on the roads, here's kim brown with the latest on the traffic . >> it's not off to a really good start this morning. several accidents, including a major one on eastbound route 70, has all the eastbound lanes closed at this time, between rogers avenue and columbia pike, that crash involves a tractor-trailer. 95 southbound, white marsh boulevard, accident blocks the right lane and shoulder. another crash towards caton avenue. on the beltway, however, we're getting world of a crash on the outer loop at green spring, reportedly involving a police vehicle. i was checking the cameras, unable to find that crash as of now, the water's starting to pool, pond, stand, hydroplaning is a definite possibility this morning. try to keep the speeds down

around the area. there are definitely hazardous driving conditions at the speed the rain is coming down. you'll need more than your umbrella today. you'll have to find the button in your patience because of all this rain. linda sow is live for us this morning as we're preparing. good morning, linda. >> well let me set the seen for you, we're expecting heavy rain and strong winds all day. that's likely going to bring down trees. some of the trees will bring down power lines. that's where the outages will happen. bge crews are on stand by today. they're expecting thousands of power outages throughout the area. all the rain has people in annapolis getting ready, already putting out sand bags by the downtown dock. >> it actually may be a pain in the butt, but if it saves your carpet or stone, whatever you have in your place, it's worth it. >> reporter: bge won't be able

to fix the downed power lines until after the storm passes. they're asking you to be patient. if you want to let them know you're without power call 877-778-2222. we're live in towson, linda sow, abc2 news. an annapolis dam is determined unsafe and now many are hoping it can handle the significant rain we're expected to get. state inspectors sent the state a letter stating that water works park off the 450 could result in massive flooding. workers have released water from the dam to prevent a possible failure. >> erosion, sort of underground erosion between the earth right next to where the dam is. they're just worried about long-term, a break down. there's no imminent threat of a major break down right now. >> phillip mcgowan says a number of repairs are planned for later

this year. the staff will be monitoring the water level. of course more rain means more problems and delays on the roads. we already heard this early in the morning, kim brown talking about it, if you're going anywhere, allow for plenty of time this morning. sherrie johnson has live team coverage this morning. >> reporter: we're here in towson off york road. look behind me, as you can see, the rain is steady falling right now. not much traffic right now, but it will pick up later this morning. you definitely want to give yourself plenty of time and watch your following distance. you also want to watch out for standing water on the roadways which can cause you to hydroplane. here in towson, we're not seeing flooding right now. that could change. we talked to the state highway administration a few moments ago, they're not reporting major problems on the roads just yet, but warn drivers to use caution this morning. here's a couple good tips they were telling me. watch out for downed trees and

power lines so you can prevent swerving. be careful approaching stop lights, there could be outages there. you basically just want to come out of your comfort zone this morning and be aware of the weather and use extra caution and object the lookout for power outages, downed trees or power lines. be aware of your surroundings. we'll keep you updated on the situation all morning live. reporting live in towson, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >> you can always get the very latest on our website, abc2news.com. we've updated all the rainfall totals and live doppler radar. so check it out if you want more weather information throughout the day, any time. 5:04. today federal authorities are launching an investigation into the deadly tourist bus crash that happened in montgomery county. the driver was killed and a dozen people injured when the bus plunged onto interstate 270 near bethesda during rush hour

yesterday. >> ran over and everybody was saying "get the kids out." i was just holding everybody. they all were crying and bleeding. >> there was a couple in shock, it was pretty bad. >> it was a harrowing experience. >> the driver appeared to have a medical emergency and slumped over in his seat, leading the bus to swerve over the railing. the bus fell more than 40 feet onto a ramp in washington beltway. the driver has been identified as 66-year-old joseph claybaw jr.. initial reports said students had been visiting the zoo and museum's in washington, d.c.. the grand opening ceremonies will be held in cecil county for maryland's first casino. since monday, people have had the opportunity to gamble at the

hollywood casino in perriville. they got their license after a successful trial run on saturday. they opened early. there are over 1500 slot machines, lots of food and drinks, all in a hollywood-themed setting. there democracy 2010 this morning: today new york city mayor michael bloomberg will endorse governor martin o'malley in his re-election race, according to the o'malley camp, mr. bloomberg's endorsement will be in bethesda at an organic product office. record rains will make for a long day. take a look at the weather problems plaguing the east coast, coming up. and no doubt about it, someone you know is looking for work. and with so much competition these days, what one woman is doing to stand out. here we go, this isn't the greatest day to catch the bus. you're looking at running here. mta report with mark jones,

going to be bad after today. >> it will be. we have some effect there, with light rail, you'll find it, southbound running about 10 minutes late, to cromwell station, glen burnie, wet roadway slowing up the buses quite a bit. the number 10, number 30, diverted at pratt and light, you'll find number 55 bus with a diversion at roswell boulevard. marc train system, no delays on the camden, pen, or brunswick line services. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones. more bold flavor!onds! more variety! more value! more of what you want... not wh you don't. blue diamond almonds.t t,!

more than a snac

i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message. the real andy harris. buried in his website - a promise to replace the tax code with a 23% sales tax and eliminate the mortgage interest deduction. a bush tax panel said families would pay $6,000 more a year. a reagan tax advisor calls it a very dumb idea. but that's not his only bad idea. harris was the only senator to vote against expanding the child care tax credit and against the state's cancer treatment program. andy harris' extreme ideas will cost us.

good morning, 10 minutes after 5:00. just issued a tornado watch nor central maryland. that's a watch. potential for possible tornados any time between now and 1:00 in the afternoon. not a guarantee. if you have a warning, that means there's been something spotted on doppler radar or the ground and is occurring. this is just a watch. the possibility. it includes all of central maryland uh, west of the bay, in

fact issued onto the eastern shore as well. within the sound of this signal, the possibility of tornados in addition to winds gusting to 45 miles per hour of and flooding rains. the heaviest of the rain really running right up the chesapeake bay, up to the bay bridge and down south to near norfolk virginia. that heavy rain slug is continuing to build in our direction. we have ponding on the roadways. check this out. look at the bottom of the screen. into midnight, 1.8 inches of rain. i'm talking about another additional 14 to 20 hours of rainfall, there's no doubt there's going to be rainfall amounts in maryland that top the 5 inch mark. that's going to be a hard push for a lot of the storm drain systems and levees and dams to handle. we have a potential severe flooding situation, in addition to the severe weather of the possible tornados. more on the forecast coming up, right now, a traffic issue out there. here's kim with the latest.

>> sherrie johnson gave out good advice, make sure you have a lot of braking room between you and the vehicle in front of you. if somebody hits a plane of standing water and hydroplanes or if someone decides they can't continue on driving, be sure you're not going to be caught up in that. let's look at our cameras and maps, we have several incidents working, i-70 eastbound closed between the patapsco river bridge and the columbia pike. route 29 because of an accident and tractor-trailer. i will certainly keep you updated. we have reports of flooding, middle river, eastern boulevard, martin boulevard, there are reports of high water in that area. on the top side of the outer loop, as you approach the jfx, the ramp getting onto the jfx there's an accident blocking one lane. another crash reported on the

outer loop of green spring avenue. the accidents are piling up. a crash has been cleared approaching white marsh boulevard. an earlier crash moved off to the right shoulder, out of the travel portion. allow yourself 10 to 15 minutes, the road conditions could deteriorate, as justin said. at 95, you see traffic starting to build. people are beginning to hit their brakes. a lot of road spray, standing water. visibility will be an issue this morning. jamie, back to you. it's 5:13. it can be tough finding work in these tough economic times, one detroit woman is hoping to stand out. she made her resumes the size of a sign and hoped someone would notice. >> i'm a good worker, i'm there to work, i'm a very positive person. i won't let anything get me down. that's why i had to come up with something. >> she's an executive assistant by trade and training, she lost her job when the company she was working for has left detroit. she has worked off and on,

mostly off, minimum wage, temporary jobs, she thought about leaving detroit, but loves the city so much, she doesn't have the money to move. news time is 5:14. it's time to get you back to work, many of you are without a job looking for a new one. we'd love to help you out. every wednesday on good morning maryland, we put three video resumes on the air. send an e-mail to bestresumes@wmar.com. we'll have you tape a 20-second video pitch and put it on the air and on our website . it's a problem many are faced with. children with head lice. >> we have tips for how to get rid of the pesky problem. weather and traffic next. two governors, two different approaches. even in good times bob ehrlich did not make education a priority. he increased college tuition by 40%,

cut school construction by $200 million, and ehrlich voted to eliminate the department of education while serving in congress. but martin o'malley, even in the toughest of times, has made record investments in public schools, new school construction, and o'malley froze college tuition four years in a row. with martin o'malley, our children always come first.

and when they wash up the last thing they need to touch is a germy pump. that's why we created the lysol no-touch hand soap system. it senses hands automatically and gives the perfect amount of soap to kill 99.9% of bacteria. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth. old gibbs canning company. today these factories are full of dot com businesses. and now my job is helping maryland create

new economy jobs. training new math and science teachers investing in our institutions of excellence pioneering new cyber security jobs and giving an old gm plant a jump start building electric motors. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message so you'll know i'm fighting for you. coming up on 5:18. our health alert: you don't need to be embarrassed when you or your children get head lice, just know what to do to get rid

of it. >> reporter: when marybeth poole had children, she never imagined she'd be dealing with head lice. >> even though you're telling yourself "this happens to everyone, it can happen to anyone, it doesn't matter your socioeconomic status or how clean you are." you still get that "not us" feeling. >> reporter: it's been a problem for her children since years ago. >> they can cause itching, but don't cry disease. >> reporter: lice crawl, they don't fly. they're usually transmitted from direct head-to-head contact or pillows that children share. first treat with over the counter products, but prescription medications are available. comb through the hair to check for lice and their eggs. so far this school year, marybeth's father has been

lice-free, but she tells you how to look. >> usually you find the nits around the neck and ear. >> reporter: use olive oil in shower caps to smother anything you've missed. >> if you get through life without it happening to you or your children, that's like a miracle. 5:19 right now. abc2 is taking part in think pink, setting the stage for a huge event happening this weekend. komen race for the cure kicks off in hunt valley. abc2 news will be there with live team coverage of the whole event starting at 7:00 a.m. we'd love it if you'd join us for the race. you have to register. head to our website, abc2news.com. click on the lifestyle tab and "think pink."

good morning, 5:20. want to highlight, we have a tornado watch for all of central maryland through the del marva, much of the mid-atlantic coast, down through the carolinas, we're watching the remains of what was once a tropical storm off the coast. here's the deal, until about 1:00, the possibility that wind itself may get to 45 miles per hour, some small tornados could spin up here at any point in time. this is just a watch, means it's possible when it actually is spotted, there'll be a warning posted for your area. here's the deal, rainfall over an inch in havre de grace and parkville just since midnight. go to the eastern shore, we have ourselves heavy rain, but also back to the west, mount airy top of the list. 1.88. i have high expectations we could be pushing over five inches in many spots today. 68 degrees in baltimore right now. 77 in norfolk compared to 75

allatoona. there's no place for moisture to go, but down. so it's being rung out of the clouds on top of us. we're going to extend down toward the southeast. just want to show you all the heavy rain through the carolinas. wilmington picked up 20 inches of rain in the past week. that slug of moisture continues to roll around a very active jetstream. we have heavy rain expected to continue here throughout the entirety of the day. watch low pressure to our south. few waves of low pressure will keep the heavy rain, especially around the bay and eastern shore overnight. we'll be on the back edge. by tomorrow, should be out of here. we'll watch the high tides, near noon today and also after midnight tonight. for possible bay surge flooding. right now, the busy traffic, here's kim brown with that.

>> some incidents, like as i mentioned earlier, have been cleared away. 95 southbound, caton avenue, an accident reported there. another accident at white marsh boulevard, 95 southbound has been cleared as well. harford road, oh man, if it's shiny, then it is slick. take it easy. traffic moving pretty well on the northeast side, although the speeds are down all around the area because of the wet conditions. as we look right now at our maps and such, we have several incidents we're working, reports of flooding and high water in middle river. eastern boulevard and martin boulevard and just a reminder, if you see high water, do not attempt to drive through the high water, you don't have an idea of how deep it actually is. you could get stuck or worse. we have a crash involving a police cruiser on the ramp getting onto the jfx that does block one lane and one lane is able to get by. our big accident of the morning on the eastbound lanes of i-70

closed between the patapsco river bridge and route 29 because of an overturned tractor-trailer. the tractor-trailer has been uprighted. state police have pushed back the time they anticipate reopening route 70 until 8:00 a.m. keep that in mind. all traffic is being detoured onto southbound route 29. it is time for today's birthdays. who's having a birthday today? two brothers in baltimore are celebrating their 40th birthday today. happy birthday fellas. disheka strawberry from southern maryland is celebrated a birthday. also, oj burgants. he's a beautiful person and i love him. . >> if you're having a birthday, we'd love to know about it. send an attached picture to

morningshow@wmar.com. we'll say happy birthday on the air. in the words of vanessa williams, he saved the best for last. kevin millwood shot out the tampa bay rays 2-0. 31-22. tampa gave out 22,000 tickets last night. total attendance though was 36,000. orioles are back home tonight, fan appreciation night, you think? with the weather? >> let's hope so. >> i don't think so. >> probably not, 5:24 right now. will it cost you more to mail a bill? >> a decision comes today, how much you could soon be paying for a stamp. >> a store owner accuse ah taking her spirit a little too far. some strong controversy. i thought it was crazy feeding in the fall.

i always feed in the fall. but, it's the best time. feed your lawn in the fall. the fall feeding makes all the difference in the world. what the fall feeding does is build the roots.. that's when the roots sorta want nutrition. i give my lawn scotts winterguard. it's like a root building machine. it builds your lawn from the roots up. next year you get this! the stronger the roots, the stronger the lawn. all year long. the best time to feed is when it will do the most good. there's no substitute for the fall feeding, trust me. it is the best thing you can do for your lawn. i use scotts winterguard.

5:27 right now. today a decision is expected on whether we'll pay more for stamps. the independent commission overseeing the postal service

will tell us what happens with the proposed 2 cent hike in the price of a stamp. we'll keep you posted. trying to adjust how much rain we might get, considering what we've had already. a flood watch through this evening. three to five inch rainfall, maybe up to 6 inches in some spots. tornado watch until early this afternoon. the possibility of winds extending over 45 miles per hour. 75, the temperature, but really it's all about the heavy rain, flooding and possible wind and tornado damage. overnight, we're looking for temperatures back to about 60. the rain should cut off around daybreak. tomorrow, mostly sunny, 73. we'll push to 69 on saturday with sunny to partly cloudy day. on sunday, highs only in mid- to upper 60s. cool weather stays with us early next week. time to go to new york for today's tech bytes. >> reporter: facebook and skype talk about teaming up. published reports say they're

expected to join services, allowing facebook members to sign into skype. users will be able to accepted text messages, voice chat and video chat with their facebook friends from within skype. a deal is expected to be announced within the next few weeks. google is giving e-mail users more control of how their inbox is organized. users can turn off the conversation view which groups together related messages. they'll be able to stack them in chronological order like most other e-mail problems. "star wars" fanatics can buy r2d2 phones today. it features widgets, a media and do new app. comes preloaded with "star wars" sounds, ringtones and wallpapers. those are your tech bytes, i'm rob nelson.